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NYC Health + Hospitals today honored 31 nurse professionals from across the public health care system as part of its annual Nursing Excellence Awards. A total of 465 nominations were submitted from across the system and the 31 honorees were selected from this pool by a panel of nurse leaders. Those selected for the recognition are nurse trailblazers who demonstrate leadership in various capacities. The 2021 Nursing Excellence Awards honor 23 nurses with “Excellence in Clinical Nursing” awards, representing each of NYC Health + Hospitals’ facilities and clinical service lines, including acute care, post-acute, correctional health services and Gotham Health. This year’s awards also include four system-level awards, recognizing one nurse chosen from the entire system who has demonstrated excellence in a specific area: “Excellence in Home, Community, or Ambulatory Care;” “Excellence in Education & Mentorship;” “Excellence in Nursing Leadership;” and “Excellence in Volunteerism and Service.”

“I truly believe that our nurses are at the heart of our mission to care for every New Yorker without exception,” said NYC Health + Hospitals President and CEO Mitchell Katz, MD. “Every day, our nurses reach beyond their routine duties to ensure patients are tested, vaccinated and taking better charge of their own health and the health of their families.”

“Our Nursing Excellence honorees exemplify what it means to be a healthcare hero and this is a great opportunity for us to shine a light on their extraordinary work,” said Chief Nursing Executive for NYC Health + Hospitals Natalia Cineas, DNP, RN, NEA-BC, FAAN. “We express our gratitude to them, and all of our nurses, for the skill, professionalism, and compassion they provide for our patients every day.”

NYC Health + Hospitals is the first health system to present the DAISY Award for Nurses Advancing Health Equity, created by the DAISY Foundation to honor nurses whose work advances health equity, mitigating health disparities that are caused by social determinants of health. This award recognizes individual nurses or nurse-led teams, who go above and beyond in caring for patients and families who are disadvantaged demographically, psycho-socially, or economically. Four nurses – one each from our acute care, post-acute, correctional health and Gotham Health facilities – are receiving the inaugural DAISY Award for Nurses Advancing Health Equity.

The second annual Structural Empowerment Award was presented to the nursing leadership and staff at NYC Health + Hospitals/Kings County. This award recognizes a single facility within the greater public health care system that has demonstrated a commitment to achieving higher performance levels, including promoting, encouraging and supporting infrastructure creation leading to sustained and substantiated increases in certification rates and other notable metrics.

A highlight of the Nursing Excellence Awards is the presentation of the second annual Josephine Bolus Nursing Champion Award, renamed in 2020 in honor of the very first recipient of the Nursing Champion Award in 2013, former NYC Health + Hospitals Board Member Josephine Bolus. The 2021 Josephine Bolus Nursing Champion Award is being presented to DAISY Foundation co-founders Bonnie and Mark Barnes, who are delivering this year’s keynote address during the Nursing Excellence Awards. The Josephine Bolus Nursing Champion Award is NYC Health + Hospitals’ highest honor bestowed upon supporters of nurses and the nursing profession, and recognizes Drs. Bonnie and Mark Barnes for their deep and unwavering commitment to recognize and support nurses all over the world.

The 2021 Nursing Excellence Award honorees included:

BRONX

• Karen Garcia, MSN-Ed, RN, CEN, TCRN
  Staff Nurse
  NYC Health + Hospitals/Lincoln
  Excellence in Clinical Nursing Award
• Silvia Romero, RN
  Staff Nurse
  Health + Hospitals/Gotham Health, Belvis
  Excellence in Clinical Nursing Award
• Sharon Simmonds, RN
  Staff Nurse
  NYC Health + Hospitals/North Central Bronx
  Excellence in Clinical Nursing Award
• Hyacinth Simpson, RN
  Staff Nurse
  NYC Health + Hospitals/Jacobi
  Excellence in Clinical Nursing Award
• Rosa Vargas, BSN, RN
  Accountable Care Manager
  NYC Health + Hospitals/Gotham Health, Morrisania
  Excellence in Clinical Nursing Award

BROOKLYN

• Fredrick Adeyemi, RN
  Staff Nurse
  NYC Health + Hospitals/McKinney
  Excellence in Clinical Nursing Award
• Corine Armand, MS, RN, FNP
  Family Nurse Practitioner
  NYC Health + Hospitals/Gotham Health, East New York
  Excellence in Clinical Nursing Award
• Jawwad Butt, RN
  Staff Nurse
  NYC Health + Hospitals/Coney Island
  Excellence in Clinical Nursing Award
• Vernita Ellison Brown, MSN, BSN, RN
  Head Nurse
  NYC Health + Hospitals/Gotham Health, Cumberland
  Excellence in Clinical Nursing Award
• Kendra Kartheiser, BSN, RN
  Staff Nurse
  NYC Health + Hospitals/Kings County
  The DAISY Foundation’s Health Equity Award
• Nicola Madou, MSN, MPH, RN
  Head Nurse
  NYC Health + Hospitals/Woodhull
  Excellence in Clinical Nursing Award
• Chandrapatti Singh Reddy, RN
  Staff Nurse
  NYC Health + Hospitals/Kings
  Excellence in Clinical Nursing Award

MANHATTAN

• Barbara Browne, BSN, RN
  Staff Nurse, Pediatric Emergency Department
  NYC Health + Hospitals/Harlem
  Excellence in Clinical Nursing Award
• Tina Hackman, BSN, RN
  Staff Nurse
  NYC Health + Hospitals/Carter
  Excellence in Clinical Nursing Award
• Yi-Hsiang Hsiao, RN
  Staff Nurse
  NYC Health + Hospitals/Gotham Health, Gouverneur
  Excellence in Clinical Nursing Award
• Patra Lee, BSN, RN
  Staff Nurse
  NYC Health + Hospitals/Coler
  Excellence in Clinical Nursing Award
• Milana Leviyev, BSN, RN
  Head Nurse
  NYC Health + Hospitals/Coler
  The DAISY Foundation Award for Nurses Advancing Health Equity
• Maria Luisa Patria, BSN, RN
  Head Nurse, Oral Surgery
  NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue
  Excellence in Clinical Nursing Award
• Sonia Reyes Mendoza, BSN, RN
  Staff Nurse
  NYC Health + Hospitals/Metropolitan
  Excellence in Clinical Nursing Award
• Jasmine Slater-Small, BSN, RN
  Staff Nurse
  NYC Health + Hospitals/Gouverneur
  Excellence in Clinical Nursing Award
• Blesilda Zapanta, MSHS, BSN, RN, CNOR
  Assistant Director of Nursing Peri Operative Services/Chief Nurse Operating Room
  NYC Health + Hospitals/Metropolitan
  Excellence in Nursing Leadership Award

QUEENS

• Linda Bulone, RN, OCN, CCRC
  Research Nurse Manager, Cancer Center
  NYC Health + Hospitals/Queens
  Excellence in Volunteerism and Service Award
• Jasmine Samuel, MSN, RN
  Staff Nurse
  NYC Health + Hospitals/Queens
  Excellence in Clinical Nursing Award
• Justin Yi, BSN, RN
  Staff Nurse
  NYC Health + Hospitals/Elmhurst
  Excellence in Clinical Nursing Award

STATEN ISLAND

• Alex Apostol, BSN, RN
  Head Nurse
  NYC Health + Hospitals/Sea View
  Excellence in Clinical Nursing Award
• Xiaowei Ling, BSN, RN
  Staff Nurse
  NYC Health + Hospitals/Gotham Health, Vanderbilt
  Excellence in Clinical Nursing Award
• Tayyaba Mughal, BSN, RN, CCRN
  Staff Nurse
  NYC Health + Hospitals/Gotham Health, Vanderbilt
  The DAISY Foundation Award for Nurses Advancing Health Equity

COMMUNITY CARE

• Keenfan Rebecca Sze, MSN, MPA, RN, FNP
  Associate Executive Director, Community Care
  NYC Health + Hospitals/Community Care
  Excellence in Home, Community, or Ambulatory Care Award

CORRECTIONAL HEALTH SERVICES

• Verne Corey Baptiste, LPN
  Licensed Practical Nurse
  NYC Health + Hospitals/Correctional Health
  The DAISY Foundation Award for Nurses Advancing Health Equity
• Joseph Oyibotsa, MSN, RN
  Staff Nurse
  NYC Health + Hospitals/Correctional Health
  Excellence in Education & Mentorship Award
• Julissa Ramos, MSN, BSN, RN
  Staff Nurse
  NYC Health + Hospitals/Correctional Health
  Excellence in Clinical Nursing Award

KINGS COUNTY NURSING LEADERSHIP

Opal Sinclair-Chung, MSNE, MSA, RN, Chief Nursing Officer
Marife Patagan, EdD, MAN, RN, Deputy Director, Director Med/Surg
Jennifer Trotman, MS, RN, Certification in Bioethics and Medical Humanity, Associate Executive Director, Behavioral Health
Shyla Roshin, DNP, RN, Director of Nursing, Behavioral Health
Hyacinth Charles, MSA, RN, Director, Ambulatory Care
Silvanus Michel, MS, RN, CCRN, Director, Critical Care
Susana Consolacion, MAE, RN, CNOR, Director, Peri-Operative Services
Vera Appiah Agyemang, MSN, RN, CNM, Director Maternal Child Health
Diahann Singh, MSN-E, RN, Director, Emergency Department
Julianne Gentile, MS, RN, ANP-BC, Director, Education and Research
Fe Villar Jacolbe, MA, RN, RN-BC, PMP, Director Quality Improvement and Pathway to Excellence
Cee-Ann Boatswain, MSN, RN, Director, Informatics
Eugene Vaknansky, MSN, RN, FNP, Director, Staffing and Finance
Ann Marie Williams, MSA, RN, CNOR, Associate Director, Peri-op Services
Myrna Foster, DNP-C, MA, RN, Associate Director, Nursing Administration
Laura Shamailov, MSN, MPH, RN, Associate Director, Behavioral Health

The nurses honored are among the more than 9,000 nurses at NYC Health + Hospitals who provide care throughout the system’s hospitals, post-acute care centers, community health centers and neighborhood clinics, home care, and the correctional health system, throughout the five boroughs.

To learn more about the Nursing Excellence Awards or any of this year’s recipients, visit https://www.nychealthandhospitals.org/nursing-excellence-awards-2021/.

Contact: Press Office, 212-788-3339